Kilkenny Advertiser, April 29, 2011.

The Kilkenny Alzheimer Society of Ireland is the leading dementia specific service provider in Ireland. The Society provides people with all forms of dementia, their families and carers with information and support to maximise their quality of life and facilitate their continued independent living within the community.

I set up the Home Care in Co Kilkenny three years ago this June. There are currently 35 clients receiving home care on a weekly basis and approximately 24 on a waiting list. This service assigns a trained dementia care worker to a client’s home for a designated number of hours per week. The care worker will do activities and stimulation with the client 1e… going for a walk, playing cards — 25s is a popular one, listening to music… it all depends on the clients’ interests. The main carer takes a well- deserved break and this is their time to do whatever they want —  go shopping, to the hairdresser or they may just want to go to bed especially if they were up during the night taking care of a loved one. This service is a life line to some families as often it is the only break they will get in the week.

The Society engages with over 3,500 active members /volunteers and employs over 700 full and part-time staff

The network currently includes 16 branches, 6 regional offices, 40 Day Care Centres, 38 Home Care Programmes, 30 Carer Support Groups, nine social clubs and one overnight respite centre.

The society also operates the Alzheimer National Helpline Service offering information and support to anyone affected by Alzheimer’s disease / dementia. As the major dementia specific service provider in Ireland, The Society engages with over 3,500 active members /volunteers and employs over 700 full and part-time staff.

Families receive between one hour and eight hours of home care per week depending on their needs and resources available. in total the society provides 105 hours care per week to families through five care workers in the Kilkenny region alone.

The Kilkenny Day Care centre is based in the Caredoc building on Waterford road. This centre can accommodate eight to 10 people with Alzheimer’s and dementia everyday and operates from 9.30am-4pm, Monday – Friday every week.

There is a nice atmosphere in the centre and they have a lovely big garden which the clients can relax in, or go for a walk. The activities vary from day to day for example there is knitting, making jigsaws, singsongs, sonas, there is always plenty for the clients to do. if anyone would like to know more about this service contact Margaret or Ruth on 056 7771230.

Fundraising efforts

in an effort to continue to provide Home Care and Day Care services to people in the society, we rely heavily on monies raised from fundraising efforts. Upcoming local events include a jumble sale taking place in Cillin Hill on Sunday morning may 7, where we will be taking a stand at the large car boot sale. if anyone has any unwanted gifts or household items clothes, toys etc just drop them into the Day Centre.

we also have a five-a-side football tournament taking place on April 30 in O’Loughlin Sports Centre for anyone who would like to get involved or simply make a donation — it dosen’t matter how big or small.

This year the 17th Annual Tea Day campaign is being held nationwide on Thursday may 5, and it aims to raise up to €450,000 in funds

Next month on may 22 there will be a 10k walk or run which will leave from Stonyford at 12.30am. This event should be great fun and if anyone would like to take part they can get a sponsorship card from the Day Care centre on the Waterford Road.

The society also runs national events throughout the country annually and this year the 17th Annual Tea Day campaign is being held nationwide on Thursday may 5, and it aims to raise up to €450,000 in funds that will be vital to ensure that families can access their local Alzheimer’s services nationwide when they need them most.

RTE’s Pat Kenny launched Tea Day this year for the society. The Frontline presenter, whose late mother Connie lived with Alzheimer’s disease for 14 years, has been a strong supporter of the Alzheimer Society in recent years. he knows the  difference the Alzheimer Society of Ireland services can make to carers and their families.  

our National Helpline on 1800 341 341 also answered over 2,400 queries last year demonstrating clearly the demand for support pressured families need, while providing care for their loved ones living with dementia. 

meanwhile, the 115 services throughout the country provided nearly 700,000 hours of support during the year to the growing numbers of people affected by Alzheimer's disease and dementia in Ireland.

in Kilkenny this year, Tea Day will be taking place on Thursday may 5, in St Patrick’s Parish Centre in Loughboy (which is beside Super Valu) from 11am to 1pm and all are welcome to come on the morning for a cup of tea and refreshments. There will be raffles on the day and if anyone would like to donate a prize for our raffle we would be very grateful. we would accept any home made cakes, tarts etc to sell.

all money raised in Kilkenny for Tea Day will stay in the county and be channelled directly into services in Kilkenny.

in addition the society is currently inviting applications for its annual Cuba Cycle Challenge which will take place from November 6 – 14 this year. The society has run the Cuba Cycle Challenge for the last two years. since 2008 it has raised over €120,000 for families in Ireland struggling to cope with the devastating condition of Alzheimer’s disease. Participants over the last two years have ranged in age from 19-65, if anyone would like more information on this year’s trip please contact The Alzheimer Society of Ireland on 01-2073800.

we are also always looking for volunteers to help out for an hour or two at various fundraising events in the county so if anyone would like to become a volunteer please get in touch.

Finally, the society also launched a Public Awareness Campaign at the start of the year aimed at educating people to know the early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia. while memory loss is the most common sign of Alzheimer’s known by the public, the campaign seeks to raise public awareness around the other early symptoms such as changes in mood and ability to manage in a bid to encourage early diagnosis. More information on the early signs and symptoms and advice on what you can do is available on remember.ie.

we have many exciting initiatives taking place in the Kilkenny area and nationally and we would urge anyone who is interested to get involved either through attending local events such as Tea Day or volunteering. all support means we can continue to provide the best level of care for people in the community who need it most.

For more information on services in the Kilkenny region or any of our fundraising events please contact myself, Marie O’Shea on 086-6090421 or anyone who is concerned about a loved one or themselves can call Margaret or Ruth in the Day Care Centre on Waterford road on 056 – 777 12 30 or the National Helpline on 1800 341 341.

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When Emma Shaw decided she wanted to start a family, she knew she faced a battle. Having been diagnosed with blocked fallopian tubes in her mid-20s, it was likely that IVF was her only option.

With her partner Tony Bailey, 40, supporting her she began a journey which around 36,000 women undertake in Britain every year.

She used her savings to fund the ?6,000 IVF cycle having discovered there was a two-year waiting list for NHS treatment in her area.

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?The IVF was gruelling, both mentally and physically,? says Emma, now 39, from Morden, Surrey. ?Sometimes I?d be elated and other days I?d be scared and emotional.

?I hadn?t expected to feel so ill. I suffered hot sweats and had symptoms of ovarian hyperstimulation caused by the drugs I was taking to encourage egg production. It made me feel nauseous and the bloating was so painful.?

Around a third of women undergoing fertility treatment suffer from ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) which occurs when the ovaries overreact to fertility drugs causing swelling and sometimes leaking fluid into the abdominal cavity.

Most cases are mild but some women are hospitalised and it can even be fatal. Between 1999 and 2003 there were no adverse incidents of OHSS reported to the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA), an independent body regulating fertility treatment but last year there were 114 cases.

Professor William Ledger, head of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Fertility at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield (jessopfertility.org.uk) and professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, says there are healthier IVF options. He says some women who do not wish to use fertility drugs or those who cannot tolerate them can opt for natural IVF. This was the method which led to the birth of Louise Brown, the world?s first test-tube baby in 1978.

The process involves working with the woman?s menstrual cycle, collecting the egg, fertilising it with her partner?s sperm and placing it back into the womb.

This works well when the male partner has fertility issues such as a low sperm, count rather than the woman.

Another gentle form of IVF, sometimes called mild IVF, involves a low dose of a stimulating hormone used for a shorter time than conventional IVF and works within the woman?s menstrual cycle. there is no suppression of hormones and no menopausal side effects. The aim is to collect between two and seven eggs.

Conventional IVF is the most popular choice. This involves daily injections to suppress hormones and then higher doses of the stimulating hormone to boost the number of eggs. The treatment can last up to five weeks and the aim is to produce as many viable eggs as possible.

Professor Ledger says women should be made more aware of natural and mild IVF. ?We achieve a high pregnancy rate with low multiple-birth rate by using a mild stimulation approach in most patients.

?It?s quicker, cheaper, safer, with half the rate of OHSS and more acceptable to patients. find any patient who has done both and I am sure she will say that the mild approach was better. to me its a no-brainer.?

E mma was devastated when she failed to get pregnant following three cycles of conventional IVF. each time she suffered OHSS.

With bills mounting to ?18,000 Emma and Tony, an IT consultant, were running short of money when they were told about mild IVF. they now have two children, Isabella, two, and Sophie who was born in November, following two cycles of mild IVF.

Professor Ledger says the success rates of mild IVF are similar to the conventional method if compared over the same time frame rather than per cycle. He says more cycles of mild IVF may be needed to achieve the same success but cycles are quicker and cheaper. It costs around ?2,750 for mild IVF and ?1,850 for natural cycle IVF.

Dr Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create Health Clinics in London (createhealth.org) and the president of the International Society for Mild Approaches in Assisted Reproduction (ISMAAR), says taking fewer drugs can suit older women. ?The evidence shows that women with low egg reserve and older women can be successful with a more natural approach using their naturally selected egg, as the drugs used to stimulate the ovaries don?t seem to benefit them anyway.

?Also a lot of women now undergo IVF treatment because their partner?s sperm is the cause of infertility and they are fertile women,? says Dr Nargund. ?These women are also given high doses of stimulating drugs. More are saying: ?why should I be treated as the infertile one? I don?t want all those drugs?.?

However, Adam Balen, professor of reproductive medicine and surgery at Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, says natural IVF has a poor success rate and many clinics aim to give as low a dose of drugs as possible anyway.

?Mild IVF has become a buzzword,? says Professor Balen. ?But in my view it?s something of a misnomer as in reality, IVF clinics should be aiming to give the lowest dose of drugs that will achieve the desired response of the ovary.?

Former childminder Emma adds: ?I wished I had known about mild IVF before I put myself through three cycles of conventional IVF.

?I did have hot flushes and some hormonal changes but it was far less invasive, quicker, cheaper and it worked.?